


War & Pieces

by lavellamps (eldritchblaest)



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Self-Hatred, Violence, most characters will show up in this, war is hell but at least you have friends to keep your ass alive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-05-25 15:49:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14980421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eldritchblaest/pseuds/lavellamps
Summary: It gets easier over time- but that doesn't mean it's not hard.





	1. Cole- Guilt

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is a thing. That I will be doing. Maybe. 
> 
> Each chapter will be 400 words, focusing on the struggles and pains, as well as the fun and games (haha rhymes, fuck yeah) different Inquisition members go through. It's relatively unedited so *shrug* sorry.
> 
> Buckle the fuck up, we're starting with Cole.

He’s quite a sight- dashing, dancing, dodging through blades and flames and other oddities he finds on the battlefield. He’s tall, but skinny all the same (terribly so, according to Dorian, who had expressed horror at _how malnourished this young man is; he must take better care of himself!_ ), and thus he takes up less space, and as such,  is less of a target- not like the iron bull, who stands in front of the spirit sometimes and takes bows and blades, _because that’s what you’re meant to do when you’re made of iron_.  
  
It works, most of the time- he hides, heals, helps with his words and his blades. He runs through the crowd, hat pulled low and he punches through armor and flesh and bone- he picks a target, launches himself upon them and buries himself in their shoulders, not wanting to twist the blade but knowing he should. They yell in pain and he yells with them because he feels the pain he’s causing and please, please, _please just die._  
  
They do, sometimes- sometimes that’s all it takes, and with a groan or a cry or sometimes nothing at all, they’re on the ground, body bloodied, beaten, bruised. Defeated.  
  
But other times, they don’t- they roar, reach back and make a blind grab at him and he struggles to keep a grip on his knives as he’s thrown to the ground or across the battlefield- he’ll land in some soft grass, or in a bush, or on cold, hard rock- and the rock is the worse because it makes him hurt, and _did I used to hurt like this when it was just me, Rhys and The Spire?_ He doesn’t remember, but that’s alright; people aren’t supposed to remember.  
  
He tries to get up when he falls, but he’s not good at it- he’s so tired and all he wants to do is _sleep_ , something he's not good at either. He lifts himself on shaking arms, desperately wanting to help, but inevitably gives up and falls again, groaning because everything hurts.  
  
He hears people through the pain- calls of distress from his teammates- his _friends_ \- as they watch him fall, and he feels sorry- their hurt is tangible, tangled in their chests and wanting to come out. He wonders if they’ll forgive him- he wonders if he’ll even wake.  
  
He always does. They make sure of it.


	2. Sera- Warmth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sera enjoys a lazy morning with her best friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Sera's turn- my Adaar's name is Tic'Talan, though most people call her Tic. Sera's nickname for her is Tadwink. Dorian is there for the hell of it.

Light streams through the window, peeking through the orange curtains and spraying the color over the rest of the room, where it stays in little puddles, dripping down to stain the rug.  
  
Sera sighs happily, not wanting to open her eyes as she basks in the warmth given by the light- like best friends, those two. Mostly together, rarely apart-  
  
_Mostly_ , she thinks suddenly with a shudder, and then she sees the breach, the fade, the rifts, the _demons_ -  
  
She huffs, snuggling closer to the person next to her. Nope, no way she’s gonna let demons ruin this moment, _no way_.  
  
It’s always cold in Skyhold- _always_ , and no matter how many blankets she piles on herself, it’s never enough- she prefers people, and that’s weird, that she prefers sleeping with people- and not even in that way, either! Who knew that just laying near other people, warm and happy, would be better than being alone?  
  
Well, she didn’t know, obviously- but that’s not much of a surprise, is it? When you’ve spent your life alone-  
  
She shakes her head subtly- _happy thoughts, happy thoughts_ -  
  
The person next to her groans and rolls over, and she peeks an eye open- it’s Tadwinks, and Sera smiles sleepily, cuddling closer. Adaar hums quietly, wrapping one of her strong arms over her shoulder and holding her close.  
  
It’s good, and it lasts about two seconds before the person lying on her other side rolls over and huffs loudly. _Right_.  
  
“You know, Sera,” Dorian says, yawning slightly while he does, “You can kick me out, if you so wish. You might as well, considering you appear to have abandoned me for the ox-woman. How _traitorous_.”  
  
Adaar snorts, and Sera giggles when her Tadwink unfolds her arms and flicks him in the head. He laughs, before sitting up. “Sera, I really am being serious, if you’d prefer I leave-“  
  
She silences him by grabbing the back of his head and tugging him down, rolling slightly to hold him in a strange hug. He grumbles slightly, muffled in her shirt, before shifting to lay more comfortably, her head tucked under his chin. Adaar, smiling at the other two, rolls once more, one arm tucked under Sera, the other draped loosely over the elf. She and Dorian weren’t the greatest of friends, but Sera was fond of him, and so, she makes do.  
  
They all make do.


	3. Cole- Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She calls him 'brother'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tic and Cole have a very sibling-like relationship, and I wanted to write about it.

Talan describes their relationship as “symbiotic”, a word Cole hadn’t understood until she shows him a druffalo with a bird pecking at its back- _“The bird eats the bugs on the druffalo’s back, and the druffalo keeps the bird safe. That way, they each help one another.”_  
  
_“But,” Cole had said, voice low so as not to disturb the creatures, “Doesn’t it hurt when the bird pecks the bugs?”_  
  
_Adaar hums at that, in that voice of hers. “Maybe it does hurt- but the druffalo doesn’t mind, not when the bird is eating the scratchy bugs.”_  
  
_He thinks that over, before nodding- that makes sense. “And if the bird gets scared? Why does it not just fly away, above the ground?”_  
  
_Talan seems to take a moment as well, her eyes calculated as she watches the animals graze. “I think,” she begins, picking her words carefully, “That when you’re scared, it’s nice to have a friend nearby. That way, you can comfort each other, and feel less alone.”_  
  
_Cole frowns. “Do people not like to be alone?”_  
  
_Adaar sighs, because she knows, and he knows she knows. “Sometimes, yes. But to be alone, for so long? No, I don’t think many could handle it.”_  
  
_Cole eyes her in mild confusion. “I was alone. It was alright sometimes, but mostly I was scared. I didn’t know I was real.”_  
  
_She nods- she knows the story, from multiple sources. “Friends make it better, don’t they?”_  
  
_He closes his eyes and nods, turning to face her and stating, matter-of-factly “You think like this about me- I can hear it, and it hurts you. Why do I hurt you?”_  
  
_Her eyes close, as if in pain, and he almost apologizes, but she finishes before he can- “The Qun does not have a word for you- in the common tongue, you would be my brother. I would stand in front of you in the face of any danger.”_  
  
_Cole blinks for a moment, confused. “How can I be your brother, if we are so different?”_  
  
_Talan laughs. “Family is what you make of it. I’d like to consider you part of it.”_  
  
_Cole smiles a little at that, but frowns soon after- “But family makes you hurt- why is that?”_  
  
_She shakes her head sadly, but with fondness- “Because, dear brother, my family is long gone. Perhaps you can help fill the hollow they left.”_


	4. Cole - Testament

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> broken bodies by a barn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Holy shit another chapter on Cole??" yeah he's great I love him
> 
> TW: Child Death, spoilers for Asunder

He crouches over the body. A young girl, no older than Bunny had been. Her body is battered and broken, beaten to the ground. Her eyes are open, staring blankly at hims- or rather, at the sky, for they see right through him.  
  
He knew this girl- or, perhaps he thought he did. He has trouble telling, these days. She lay in the rubble of her family’s stable, a dagger clutched tight against her chest.  
  
_She never got to use it._  
  
She had only died recently- he could tell, by the memories lingering in the air, fleeing into the world as her soul reaches for the fade. He catches fleeting thoughts, regrets, pains, _loves-_  
  
He can feel the eyes of his fellows boring holes into his back- discontent, disgust, flitting through their minds. _What is he doing?_  
  
Gingerly, he pulls the knife from her limp grip, careful not to damage her fingers. Eyeing it for a moment, he turn to the person nearest to him- The Iron Bull, as the case may be. The Qunari seems… distrusting of the spirit, if the look in his eye is anything to go by. Cautiously, blade pointed down, Cole hand it to them, his eyes carrying a message- _hold, please._  
  
The Iron Bull nods, taking the dagger in hand, holding it like a shard of glass. Hands now free, Cole maneuvers his skinny arms under her legs and shoulders, struggling for a moment to position her against his chest.  
  
“Cole,” says The Iron Bull next to him, “If you can hold the dagger, I could-”  
  
He stops mid-sentence, and Cole doesn’t know why, but he appreciates it.  
  
Gently, body straining under the girl’s weight, he stands, legs shaky, but holding the girl to his chest. He looks at his companions- Talan, thinking thoughts of _Cole, cautious, concern_ , Dorian thinking of _strange, solemn, sorrow_ \- and turns towards the half shattered barn door; local bandits had gotten hold of Antivan fire, and things got out of hand soon after.  
  
Hunching his back, gritting his teeth against the pain, he starts up the hill, his friends following soon after- The Iron Bull, Talan, Dorian- as he approaches the smoldering barn house, the scent of smoke and meat pungent in the air. They find the mother on the second floor, lifeless like her lover below her.  
  
The dagger is laid next to them- a testament to war.


End file.
